Showered with Love

Like I mentioned last week, Mr. Bunches and I embarked on a little whirlwind east coast tour a couple weekends ago. The purpose? Threefold (in no particular order):

To attend a wedding in Rhode Island;

To attend a joint baby shower for me and my sis; and

To see family and friends.

We decided to drive, and that meant we would be going right by Saratoga Springs (which you may recall is where we tied the knot a couple years ago). So of course we had to stop in and say hi . . .

And for those interested in seeing the growing bump . . .

We love Saratoga National!

Maybe someday we’ll come back and play golf, but for now, we’re happy just doing a drive-by . . .

We actually spent the night in Saratoga Springs, and luckily for us Deenie was in town for a friend’s wedding, which meant that I was relieved from watching the NFL Draft with Mr. B (I owe you one Deenie!).

And look who else made a guest appearance? A little Miss JB!

BTW–there’s nothing quite like sidling up to the bar at 7 months pregnant. Classy, eh?

Up next? A joint baby shower with my big sis. It was hosted by our families, and they did a tremendous job. The place was adorable (Brasserie Zapp at the Red Lion Inn in Cohasset, MA); here’s a shot of us setting up for the shower:

My sister’s mother-in-law did an amazing job with the decor (and she shipped it all from Texas! Amazing, right?). The shower had a bird theme, and included all sorts of adorable favors–just check out the bird seed and bird’s nests filled with candied almonds at each place setting . . .

There was also a greetings tree which gave everyone the opportunity to share some motherly wisdom with my sister and I . . .

At the end of the shower, my sister and I each got to take home our little greetings–they were so much fun to read later!

The centerpieces were also outstanding–my sister’s MIL had spray-painted these birdcages and then had the florist fill them with flowers.

There were also pops of color on each table in the form of birdhouses (also handpainted) and little ceramic birds. It was really great . . .

And not to be outdone by the decor, the chef also delivered on the food. I opted for the vegetarian option, and I’m still kicking myself for not taking pictures of the other meals. I loved how modern the styling of the plates was (that’s mushroom risotto btw) . . .

After eating stuffing ourselves, it was time for a little baby shower activity: onesie decorating! We had ~30 blank onesies in all different sizes, a bunch of fabric markers, some stencils (for the not-so-artistically-inclined), and a group of ladies who weren’t afraid to get their craft on . . .

We also had cut-up pieces of posterboard to put inside the onesies in order to prevent any bleed-through.

I think everyone really enjoyed it, and my sister and I got to leave with a bunch of handmade onesies–awesome, right?

I’ll try to take pictures of all the finished ones that I took home so you can see how crafty everyone was (with the kitchen renovation ongoing, we haven’t had time to organize all the loot from the shower, but it’s on our list).

After crafting time, it was time to open some presents. I’ll spare you the details, but needless to say, everyone went totally overboard and my sister and I were both really touched. Just check out all the great stuff that was showered upon us . . .

I don’t even think I can begin to thank all my family and friends (although I promise to actually get thank-you notes in the mail soon :) ).

Once the presents were opened, it was time for dessert (arguably my favorite time of any day). There was a gorgeous chocolate cake courtesy of our dear friend Tracy, and then some fantastic shortbread cookies in the shapes of ducks, onesies, and rocking horses (from Fratelli’s in Quincy, MA). All were AMAZING!

Obviously the cake had our full names on it, but in hopes of staying somewhat secretive on this blog, names have been erased. If I was better at Photoshop (or even owned the program), I might’ve added Mrs. Bunches and Doodles on it, but oh well. You get the idea, right?

All in all, it was such a fabulous day and I am so grateful to all the hard work that was undertaken to make it such a special memory for my sister and I. It’s not everyday that two sisters get to be pregnant with their first kids at the same time, so it was really wonderful to share these memories.

Maybe next time our little sister will jump on the pregnancy bandwagon? :) Haha–j/k!